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Mariners Sign Mike Ford To Minor League Deal

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Mike Ford is back with the Mariners on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, according to his MLB.com transactions log.

Ford played in 16 major league games with Seattle in 2022 while ultimately bouncing around between four different organizations — the Giants, Braves, and Angels being the other three. He took 149 total big league plate appearances and overall hit just .206/.302/.313 with three home runs and 40 strikeouts.

The now-30-year-old first baseman and DH burst onto the MLB scene with the Yankees in 2019 and posted a shiny .909 OPS, but he has struggled to a combined .570 OPS in 305 big league plate appearances since that promising debut campaign in the Bronx. Given his defensive limitations and age, the long-term outlook here isn’t exactly promising. Nor does the short-term outlook look good for him with A.J. Pollock, Tommy La Stella, and a large handful of better options vying for turns at DH in Seattle.

Ford has been part of the Mariners organization — Rule 5 drafted, let go, re-signed, let go, then re-signed again — a number of other times in the past. He will likely be returning as nothing more than a depth piece at spring camp for the M’s, who snapped the longest postseason drought in North American professional sports last season and are going to be aiming to chase down the reigning World Series-champion Astros in the AL West this year following yet another active winter piloted by hyperactive president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto.

Which Remaining Free Agent Hitters Were Shifted The Most In 2022?

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It was announced back in September that Major League Baseball would be implementing some new rules for the 2023 season. One such change will be the limiting of defensive shifts, with teams required to have two infielders on each side of second base and all four on the near side of the outfield grass at the time the pitch is released.

The exact ramifications of these changes will be discovered as the 2023 season progresses, but the hope is that some routine grounders turn into hits instead. Those players who have been shifted the most could stand to reap the most benefit from the new environment. The prototypical example of the hitter that is the most harmed by the shifts has been a plodding and pull-happy left-hander who can be neutralized by having an infielder in deep right field. However, each player is unique and will have been attacked in different ways, so let’s look at the data, with a minimum of 100 plate appearances required to be considered here. Which free agents were shifted the most in 2022? (Quick note that Stephen Vogt has been excluded since he previously announced 2022 would be his last season.)

1.  Rougned Odor – 93.8%
2. Kole Calhoun – 93.4%
3. Zack Collins – 88.9%
4. Brett Phillips – 88%
5. Brandon Belt – 85.2%
6. Mike Ford – 84.6%
7. Jed Lowrie (as a lefty) – 83.5%
8. Robbie Grossman (as a lefty) – 82.6%
9. Michael Perez – 81.8%
10. Mike Moustakas* – 81%
11. Tommy La Stella* – 80.5%
12. Josh VanMeter – 79.7%
13. Luke Voit – 76.9%
14. Colin Moran – 75%
15. Adam Duvall – 71.7%
16. Gary Sánchez – 70.5%
17. Dominic Smith – 70.4%
18. Jackie Bradley Jr. – 64%
19. Jurickson Profar (as a lefty) – 63.8%
20. Didi Gregorius – 60.3%

(* – Moustakas and La Stella technically aren’t free agents right now. However, they were both recently designated for assignment and are likely to be released given their onerous contracts.)

Odor has been quite awful at the plate recently, with his batting average finishing at .207 or below in each of the past four years. However, his batting average on balls in play has been at .244 or below in each of those seasons, well below his earlier career marks and the .290 league average in 2022. Perhaps the shift bans could get him closer to his earlier career number when he hit between .259 and .271.

Belt hit .285/.393/.595 over 2020 and 2021, good enough for a wRC+ of 162 which trailed only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper among all MLB hitters in that time. He was actually shifted more in those two seasons than he was in 2022. Injuries limited him to just 78 games and tepid production this year, but perhaps better health and some more open space on the field could help him return to being one of the best hitters in the league.

As for the rest, some of these guys are role players or aging veterans, but a few of them could be sneaky value pickups in the latter half of the offseason. Like Belt, many of them are coming off disappointing and/or injury-marred years and will be looking to bounce back in 2023. Grossman posted a 118 wRC+ over 2020 and 2021 but just an 82 this year. Voit had a 153 wRC+ in the shortened 2020 season but dipped to 112 and 102 in the past two campaigns. Duvall had a 108 wRC+ over 2019-2021 but an 87 here in 2022. Sánchez recorded a 143 wRC+ in his first two seasons but just a 96 in the following five years, including an 89 in the most recent campaign. Smith posted a huge 150 wRC+ over 2019 and 2020 but has slid to just 82 since. Profar is coming off a decent campaign and is arguably the best free agent still unsigned.

15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

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Infielders

Outfielders

Angels Outright Three

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A trio of players designated for assignment by the Angels last week — right-hander Mike Mayers, first baseman Mike Ford and outfielder Magneuris Sierra — went unclaimed on outright waivers, per the league’s transactions log at MLB.com. All three were assigned outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. All three can reject the assignment in favor of free agency right now, though that’s largely a moot point, as all three can also become free agents after the season concludes.

Mayers, 30, is the most experienced of the bunch and has spent the most time with the Angels organization. From 2020-21, he was a regular in late-inning roles for the Halos, recording four saves and 22 holds through 105 innings pitched. In that span, Mayers worked to a sharp 3.34 ERA with a terrific 30.5% strikeout rate and a solid 8% walk rate — easily the best stretch of a big league career that now spans parts of seven seasons.

Unfortunately, Mayers wasn’t at all able to sustain that pace in 2022. He’s pitched 50 2/3 innings this year — third-most of any season in his Major League career — and been clubbed for a 5.68 ERA along the way. His average fastball velocity, which sat 94.6 mph in 2020-21, is down to a career-low 93.7 mph in 2022. He’s also seen his strikeout rate plummet to 20.2%, and after allowing just 1.11 homers per nine innings in 2020-21, he’s surrendered a whopping 2.66 long balls per nine frames this year.

Ford, also 30, has suited up for four big league teams in 2022 alone. The longtime Yankees prospect spent 16 games with the Mariners earlier in the season (across two stints), one with the Giants, eight with the Braves and now 28 with the Halos. Ford has been designated for assignment by each of those teams, however (twice by the Mariners), bringing his DFA total to a whopping five on the year.

Ford impressed in his rookie showing with the Yankees back in 2019, debuting to the tune of a .259/.350/.559 batting line and a dozen homers in just 163 plate appearances. He hit just .134/.250/.276 in 156 plate appearances over the next two seasons before being cut loose by the Yankees, however, and has now logged a combined .206/.302/.313 output in 149 plate appearances between his quartet of new teams in 2022.

Sierra, meanwhile, hit just .165/.200/.242 in 96 plate appearances with the Angels prior to his DFA. The former Cardinals and Marlins prospect is one of baseball’s fastest players, ranking in the 97th percentile for average sprint speed, per Statcast. He’s never gotten on base enough in the big leagues to make much use of his wheels, though, as evidenced by a lifetime .228/.273/.272 slash in 636 plate appearances.

Angels Reinstate Anthony Rendon, Designate Mike Ford

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The Angels have reinstated third baseman Anthony Rendon from the 60-day injured list, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. First baseman Mike Ford was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Rendon, 32, played 45 games this season before he underwent wrist surgery in June. At the time, that procedure was categorized as “season-ending,” though Rendon evidently recovered faster than expected. A few weeks ago, it was reported that coming back for a late-season appearance was on the table, something that has now come to fruition.

Despite his reinstatement, Rendon still won’t be appearing in a game for the Halos for a few days. Shortly after his surgery, there was a massive brawl between the Angels and Mariners which resulted in 12 suspensions. One of those was given to Rendon, who got five games for his role in the fracas. He’ll miss the next five contests with the Angels playing shorthanded on those days. That will still leave him with the chance to get a small taste of action before the offseason begins, as the club has eight games remaining here in 2022, and prevent him from missing the beginning of the 2023 season.

The Angels are well out of contention here in 2022, so those games next season should be much more important to the team. Next year is the last season before Shohei Ohtani is slated to reach free agency. With the club also potentially being sold in the near future, it’s possible that 2023 is an inflection point for the franchise. Despite having Mike Trout for the past decade-plus, Ohtani for the past five seasons and Rendon for the past three, the Angels haven’t finished above .500 since 2015 and haven’t made the postseason since 2014. With Ohtani’s potential departure and an unknown ownership group entering the picture, it’s possible that 2023 might have a “last hurrah” sort of feel to it, given the uncertainty beyond that.

Rendon was excellent for the Angels in the first year of his contract, which was the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He hit .286/.418/.497 in 52 games that year for a wRC+ of 152 and 2.5 fWAR. Unfortunately, the past couple of seasons have been marred by injuries, with Rendon only getting into 58 games last year and only 45 so far here in 2022. He and the club will surely be hoping for better health next year and beyond, with his contract running through 2026.

As for Ford, he began his career with the Yankees and spent many years in their system before entering a journeyman phase over the past two years. Starting in June of 2021, he went from New York to Tampa, then Washington, Seattle, San Francisco, back to Seattle, Atlanta and then to Los Angeles to join the Angels. For four different teams this year, he’s hit .206/.302/.313 for a wRC+ of 80. Ford has a much better track record at Triple-A, hitting .257/.353/.476 in over 1300 plate appearances. He’s struggled to bring that up to the majors with him but might find another team willing to give him a shot. With the trade deadline long gone, the Angels will have no choice but to put Ford on waivers in the coming days.

Angels Place Jared Walsh On 60-Day Injured List

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1:16PM: Walsh has been placed on the 60-day IL, the Angels announced.  This officially ends the first baseman’s 2022 season.

10:06AM: The Angels announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game with the Rays, including the news that Jared Walsh has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to thoracic outlet syndrome.  Infielder Phil Gosselin was also designated for assignment.  Filling the two roster spots are catcher Matt Thaiss (called up from Triple-A), and first baseman Mike Ford, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a condition much more commonly seen in pitchers, making Walsh something of an outlier as a position player.  While Walsh drew some attention as a two-way player early in his career and during his time in the Angels farm system, he has only 26 2/3 professional innings pitched, and none since 2019.  Most pitchers who undergo surgery to correct TOS aren’t the same performance-wise after returning to the mound, but it remains to see if Walsh will indeed need surgery, or how such a procedure could impact his future production given that he isn’t pitching.

Even if Walsh opts for treatment without going under the knife, it would seem like the remainder of his 2022 season could be in jeopardy.  With the Angels out of contention, they would seemingly not have any reason to rush Walsh back into action.

Walsh hit .280/.338/.531 over 693 PA with the Angels in 2020-21, earning a seventh-place finish in 2020’s Rookie of the Year balloting and a slot on the 2021 AL All-Star team.  However, 2022 has been much more of a struggle, as the 29-year-old has contributed only 15 home runs and a .215/.269/.374 slash line.  Despite some decent defense at first base, this poor offensive production has resulted in an overall sub-replacement level performance for Walsh, who has -0.5 fWAR and -0.6 bWAR.

Even in 2020-21, Walsh has below-average walk and strikeout rates, but those numbers have sunk further downward in 2022 — Walsh’s 30.4% strikeout rate puts him in only the sixth percentile of batters.  He is also hitting with far less power, with an Isolated Power metric of only .158 (down from .354 in 2020 and .232 in 2021).  This decline has robbed the Angels of a key bat in their lineup, as Los Angeles has gotten very little from any players besides Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Taylor Ward, and the emerging Luis Rengifo.

Gosselin had enough MLB service time that he can reject an outright assignment to Triple-A, assuming that he clears waivers and the Angels don’t release him.  The Angels claimed Gosselin off waivers from the Braves in mid-July, and the veteran utilityman ended up playing 22 games with Anaheim, mostly as a third baseman.  Unfortunately, Gosselin provided very little offense, with only a .269 OPS over 51 plate appearances.

Gosselin has only sporadically delivered at the plate over his 10 Major League seasons, with a career .254/.305/.349 slash line over 1199 PA.  The 33-year-old has suited up for seven different big league teams, and this is his second stint with the Angels, after playing 104 games with the Halos in 2021.

Ford is in today’s starting lineup as the cleanup hitter, putting Ford on pace to see action for a fourth different Major League team this season.  The first baseman has appeared in 22 games combined with the Giants, Mariners, and Braves, with San Francisco and Seattle ping-ponging him back and forth between their rosters a few times earlier in the season and Atlanta releasing Ford earlier this month.  He signed a new minor league contract with Los Angeles in mid-August, and might now in line for some consistent playing time if Walsh does miss most or all of the remainder of the season.

In 2019, Ford burst onto the scene with 12 home runs and a .909 OPS over 163 PA as a rookie with the Yankees.  Since that initial breakout, however, he has scuffled to a .138/.267/.253 slash line in 206 PA since the start of the 2020 season, and the Yankees dealt him to the Rays in June 2021.  Ford also ended up heading to the Nationals on a waiver claim later in the 2021 season, making it quite a whirlwind of organizational change for the Princeton product in just 14 months’ time.

Braves Select Top Prospect Vaughn Grissom, Activate Kirby Yates

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The Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of top infield prospect Vaughn Grissom from Double-A Mississippi and activated right-hander Kirby Yates from the 60-day injured list.

To open space on the 40-man roster, Atlanta activated first baseman Mike Ford from the 10-day IL and designated him for assignment and also transferred outfielder Adam Duvall from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Atlanta also announced that infielder Orlando Arcia is headed to the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain and that righty Huascar Ynoa has been optioned to Triple-A. That frees up a pair of spots on the 26-man roster for Grissom and Yates.

Still just 21 years old, Grissom was an 11th-round pick in 2019 who has skyrocketed through the minors, culminating in a .363/.408/.516 slash through his first 98 plate appearances in Double-A. That’s his only experience above A-ball, though this year’s .312/.404/.487 output in 344 plate appearances at High-A bear mention as well. It’s the second time this season that the Braves have aggressively promoted a top prospect directly from the Double-A ranks, and it’s easy to imagine that the major success of Michael Harris II may have emboldened the front office to go back to the well a second time.

Despite that humble draft status, Grissom has ascended to the No. 77 spot on Baseball America’s latest top-100 prospect ranking and No. 98 over at MLB.com. He’s cracked 14 home run, 20 doubles and two triples across those two minor league levels this season, all while going 27-for-32 in stolen base attempts. Grissom doesn’t walk much (8.1% on the season but just four walks in 98 Double-A plate appearances), but he’s also fanned in only 12.2% of his plate appearances this season.

Grissom has been primarily a shortstop this season and throughout his minor league career, but the Braves have given him seven starts at second base and six at third base so far in the minors this year.  Scouting reports at BA. MLB.com and FanGraphs question his ability to remain at shortstop in the long run, but his bat is thought to be solid enough to profile at second, third or even in the outfield (though he’s played infield exclusively to this point in his pro career). In the short term, with Arcia headed to the IL and Ozzie Albies still mending a broken foot, it seems likely that Grissom will be ticketed for work at second base.

Starting Grissom’s service clock now sets him up for  a potential trip to free agency in the 2028-29 offseason, although plenty can change that trajectory along the way. Albies and third baseman Austin Riley are signed long-term in the infield, and it’s not yet known whether the Braves will be able to retain free-agent-to-be Dansby Swanson beyond the current season. Even if Swanson were to depart, Grissom wouldn’t be a lock to step right into the fray. He’s largely untested above Class-A, and while Harris’ success story is encouraging, it’s more common for players — even top prospects — to struggle following such aggressive promotions. Regardless, he’ll earn some big league service time this season, and his placement on the 40-man roster a year sooner than was required will accelerate his minor league option schedule.

Turning to the veteran Yates, he’ll add yet another high-profile, potentially dominant arm to an Atlanta bullpen that is hardly short on such commodities. The 35-year-old inked a two-year, $8.25MM deal this winter — a backloaded contract that pays him just $1MM in 2022 due to the fact that Yates has been shelved for the entire season to this point while rehabbing from last year’s Tommy John surgery. When healthy most recently, in 2018-19, he was an All-Star closer with the Padres, pitching to a combined 1.67 ERA with 53 saves, a huge 38.7% strikeout rate and a tiny 6.1% walk rate.

It remains to be seen whether Yates can recapture that form, but his work on a minor league rehab assignment thus far certainly creates some optimism. Across three Braves affiliates, Yates logged a combined 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball with just four hits allowed and a 10-to-2 K/BB ratio. He’ll join Kenley Jansen, Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek and Collin McHugh near the back of an outstanding bullpen.

As for the 30-year-old Ford, he’s gone hitless in eight big league plate appearances with the Braves this season and logged a combined .150/.320/.175 batting line in 50 plate appearances between Atlanta, Seattle and San Francisco. The former Yankees minor leaguer was never considered among the top prospects in the New York organization but does carry a .258/.355/.481 batting line and 61 homers through 1294 career plate appearances in Triple-A. With trades of players who’ve been on Major League rosters this season now prohibited after the Aug. 2 deadline, Ford will be placed on waivers within the next week and be made available to all 29 other clubs.

Adam Duvall To Undergo Season-Ending Wrist Surgery

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4:41PM: Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters that Duvall will undergo surgery, and Toscano reports that the procedure will end Duvall’s season.  The outfielder will finish 2022 with a .213/.276/.401 slash line and 12 homers over 315 PA, so between that inconsistent production and his wrist injury, Duvall could be facing a pretty modest market as a free agent this winter.

Marcell Ozuna, Guillermo Heredia, and Orlando Arcia could each be utilized as the right-handed hitting side of the platoon with Rosario, or the Braves could very possibly look to add a new outfielder to the mix prior to the trade deadline.

9:03AM: The Braves have placed outfielder Adam Duvall on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left wrist. Mike Ford has been recalled from Triple-A to fill Duvall’s roster spot, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).

Duvall began the year as the Braves’ starting center fielder, but the arrival of Michael Harris II has pushed the veteran into a bench role. For the past few weeks, he’s been in a more-or-less straight platoon with Eddie Rosario in left field. Offensively, he hasn’t yet accessed the prodigious power output that makes him an effective role player. He does have 12 home runs across 315 plate appearances, but that only amounts to a .401 SLG and .188 ISO, numbers that come closer to average than Duvall’s career norms.

Ford, 30, will fill a short-term bench role as a left-handed bat for the Braves. He has already appeared in the Majors this season with the Giants and Mariners, as well as the Braves. And yet, he has accumulated just nine plate appearances between those three stops.

Braves Select Robinson Cano, Designate Phil Gosselin

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The Braves announced that they’ve selected the contract of veteran second baseman Robinson Cano, just hours after acquiring him from the Padres in exchange for cash. Fellow infield veteran Phil Gosselin was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man and 26-man rosters. Atlanta also reinstated Adam Duvall from the paternity list and optioned first baseman Mike Ford to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Cano, 39, was suspended for the entire 2021 season after the second positive PED test of his 17-year Major League career. Once a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate who looked like a surefire Hall of Famer (prior to the multiple PED bans), Cano is in the penultimate season of a ten-year, $240MM contract signed with the Mariners prior to the 2014 season. He’s been released by both the Mets and the Padres this season thanks to an awful .149/.182/.189 batting line through 77 trips to the plate, but Cano did post a strong .333/.375/.479 slash in 104 Triple-A plate appearances for the Padres’ top affiliate this year.

Now back in the NL East, Cano will help his former division rival try to overtake his former club in a potential revenge series this weekend. For the time being, he’ll give Atlanta a platoon partner at second base for the righty-swinging Orlando Arcia — though it stands to reason that if Cano’s form resembles his output with the Padres and Mets from earlier in the year, the leash will be quite short. The Braves are biding their time until Ozzie Albies can return from a fractured foot, but he’s likely still more than a month out.

Gosselin, 33, had a nice run in Triple-A Gwinnett this season but hasn’t hit much in a tiny sample of 24 big league plate appearances (.261/.292/.261). He’s spent parts of ten seasons in the Majors, so teams generally know what they’re getting with him at this point. Gosselin will generally hit for a passable batting average but doesn’t walk or hit for power. He’s capable of playing just about anywhere on the diamond and is a solid defender at multiple infield positions, making him a nice veteran to have on hand as a depth option. The Braves will have a week to trade Gosselin, release him or try to pass him through outright waivers. Even if he goes unclaimed on waivers, he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Braves Activate Eddie Rosario, Tyler Matzek

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The Braves have activated two of the key figures from last year’s World Series run, outfielder Eddie Rosario and left-hander Tyler Matzek, from the injured list, the team announced today. To make room on the active roster, the club optioned infielder Mike Ford to Triple-A Gwinnett and designated right-hander Silvino Bracho for assignment.

While the Braves have been one of the hottest teams in baseball of late, Rosario’s and Matzek’s performances to open the season seemed to be emblematic of a bit of a championship hangover for an Atlanta squad that limped out of the gate. Both players’ issues proved the result of injuries, however: Rosario’s swelling in his right retina that required laser surgery and Matzek’s left shoulder inflammation that led to a significant drop in velocity.

Indeed, each will be looking to improve on rather unsightly lines, particularly by their recently elevated standards. In 49 trips to the plate in April, Rosario slashed an anemic .068/.163/.091 — good for a -24 wRC+ — before hitting the IL, while Matzek had seen his ERA climb from 2.57 last year to 5.06 through his first 10 2/3 innings this year that included an alarming dip in his strikeout rate (from 29.2% in 2021 to 21.3% in 2022) and an alarming spike in his walk rate (from 14% to 19.2%).

Should each return in top form, the already red-hot Braves — 23-7 since June 1st — could reach another gear in what figures to be a stellar race in the NL East. Matzek should slide back into a bullpen that leads the majors with 4.7 fWAR with little issue, but Rosario’s return could lead to something of a logjam in the outfield. When healthy, Ronald Acuña Jr. is the first name on Brian Snitker’s lineup card, and Michael Harris II has been a revelation in center field since a late-May call-up. Adam Duvall, who left Saturday’s game in Cincinnati after taking a pitch off the hand, has seen the bulk of the at-bats in left since Harris’ arrival, and Marcell Ozuna has primarily slotted in at DH, playing in left only on an as-needed basis.

Neither Duvall nor Ozuna has gotten off to a particularly hot start, however. Ozuna, who’s slashing .227/.280/.420, has hit for power and little else, while Duvall, who’s slashing a meager .205/.272/.376, has provided much-needed defensive versatility but has yet to show the level of power that’s been his calling card in the past. Too much talent vying for too few at-bats is a good problem to have, of course, but Snitker may have to get creative to get everyone in the lineup on a regular basis.

Ford, who logged only a walk in five trips to the plate since the Braves claimed him from the Mariners a few weeks ago, will return to the minors as organizational depth. If he clears waivers, Bracho, who covered a single scoreless inning in his stint with Atlanta, will likely do the same. Ford has logged a .194/.306/.395 career batting line in parts of four minor league seasons with the Yankees, Giants, Mariners, and Braves. Bracho, who had pitched in five prior seasons with the Diamondbacks, owns a career 4.76 ERA in 90 2/3 innings across 93 appearances.

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